Searching for flights on the internet has always been kind of easy. But the various interfaces, data entry fields, and numerous sites you have to go to (unless you use Kayak) to find them have never made it a joyful experience, exactly. Google wants to change that. Now, you may already know Google publishes a flight search app called OnTheFly by ITA. It's pretty good on a phone. I've used it to help friends book flights before, and I really like it.

But on a tablet, the app has tons of wasted space, and just doesn't feel like it's optimized for the big screen. It doesn't take advantage of the extra real estate it's afforded in a useful way. Instead of changing the app, though, Google has released a flight search web app that you can use straight from the browser on almost any tablet. And it rocks. Check it out:

It's fast, it's dead simple to use, and the results are damn near instantaneous. To access it, just go to google.com/flights on your tablet. It tells you baggage costs, total flight cost (including taxes and fees), gives you a nifty map interface to let you choose a destination given a starting point and date (showing flight cost to various airports highlighted on the map), and even has a rate histogram. Once you pick a departing and returning flight, you can book directly through the respective airline's website. Or, you can take your query to any one of a number of alternative flight search and booking sites, like Expedia or Kayak.